A nurse involved in the care of a deaf TikTok star who died after ingesting poison warned of a “huge shortage” of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters during an inquest into the death.
Imogen Nunn, 25, died in Brighton, East Sussex, on New Year’s Day 2023 after taking a poisonous substance she ordered online.
Ms Nunn, who was born deaf, raised awareness of hearing and mental health issues on her social media accounts, which attracted more than 780,000 followers.
On Tuesday, the Inquest at West Sussex Coroners Court in Horsham were informed of a “huge shortage” in BSL interpreters from Carmen Jones, a nurse for the deaf adult community team (DACT) at South West London and St George’s NHS Trust.
Just days before Ms Nunn’s death, she received a check-in visit at her home from care professionals after sending a text message saying she had had an increase in suicidal thoughts.
No BSL interpreter was brought to the meeting as there was not enough time to arrange it, the court was told in March.
Communicating through a BSL interpreter on Tuesday, Ms Jones said: “There is a huge shortage of BSL interpreters.
“Even in my current job I still struggle to get interpreters for my role in my work and because I’ve seen deaf patients requiring access to mental health teams, I see that they are also struggling.”
She told senior coroner Penelope Schofield “it would be very difficult” for a deaf person to communicate the crisis they were in without an interpreter.
“It’s based around language, how can anyone understand another person if they don’t share a language?” Ms Jones added.
Consultant psychiatrist Simon Baker, who visited Ms Nunn on 29 December 2022 at her home, previously told the court he was “surprised” how well the meeting had gone.
The inquest into Ms Nunn’s death was previously adjourned for two months because there were no BSL interpreters available to translate for two members of DACT.
This correlated with concerns noted in a prevention of future deaths report written by Ms Schofield regarding Ms Nunn’s care.
It reads: “During the course of the inquest (which has yet to be concluded), I heard evidence that there was a lack of availability of British Sign Language Interpreters able to help support deaf patients in the community who were being treated with mental health difficulties.
“This was particularly apparent when mental health staff were seeking an interpreter at short notice for a patient who was in crisis.
“The lack of interpreters available has meant that urgent assessments are being carried out with no interpreters present.”
The inquest continues on Wednesday morning.
